Author Topic: Looking for smartphone (Read 169853 times)

tomos · « **Reply #175 on:** May 05, 2018, 05:59 PM »

If you are aiming for a Nokia, I'd opt for the Nokia 6 (~ €200,-) or Nokia 6.1 (aka Nokia 6 2018) (~ €300,0), that have a much better processor (Qualcomm 6xx instead of 4xx) and screen (1920x1080 instead of 1280x720), as well as a better camera (back: 16 mp instead of 13 mp, front: 8 mp), and also, the Nokia 5 is lacking a notification-led, for some reason (just like the Motorola G5/s/plus series), AFAICS.
I also do like that the Nokia 6.1 comes with Android One, ensuring often and soon updates by Google, but that should also be the case for the Nokia 5 as it has stock-Android.
-Ath (May 03, 2018, 06:32 AM)

belated thanks Ath
will have to consider size: I really like the 4.7" I'm currently using -- 5.5" / 2018 seems like a big jump, mind you it's about the same actual size as the 5.2" / 2017 version.
Re camera, for the record, more pixels doesn't mean better camera :p but in fairness, normally more expensive equals better.

The idea Android gets updated makes any of them very attractive options.

Ath · « **Reply #176 on:** May 06, 2018, 02:45 AM »

Well, I went to a large electronics store yesterday to buy a new phone for my mother as a birthday gift for her 80th birthday later this month, and (also) held that Nokia 6.1 in my hand for a minute, but it's rather huge compared to my Nexus 5

Most reviewers seem to highly regard the cameras of the 6.1, but that's hardly a criterium for me as I only use it for snapshots.
We bought a Motorola X4 for mother, that is a (little) bit less huge

, but is lacking a notification-led. It's been on my wishlist for some time, but it fell off for this reason, for the rest it's a very good phone.

4wd · « **Reply #177 on:** May 06, 2018, 06:16 AM »

... but is lacking a notification-led.
-Ath (May 06, 2018, 02:45 AM)

The phones I've had prior to my current Moto G5+ all had a notification LED and when I got the G5+ I thought I'd miss it but I don't.

The Moto Display feature is great, the screen lights up for a second or two when a notification comes in but it also lights up for a half second whenever you pick the phone up which shows you any notifications that have come in.

When I thought back I realised I didn't use the notification LED all that much since about the only times I noticed it was when I was reaching for the phone anyway.

Besides that, coupled with the smart watch I know when a notification arrives.

tomos · « **Reply #178 on:** May 06, 2018, 07:19 AM »

Notification light is not important for me. I like to be able to forget my phone $:-\$

Trying to get my head around actual size vs. screensize, I created a short list in table form
https://docs.google....UaQ/edit?usp=sharing

Looking for smartphone
(down at the bottom there are Ath's and my current phones)

it's impressive that the new Moto G6 is 5.7" -- yet is shorter than most of the other phones (but wider). It is 18:9 format (2:1) which helps keep the width down. The new camera + photo engine (or whatever that get's called) is supposed to be very good for the price class. It's a dual lens setup. Well above my planned budget and size, but tempting...

4wd · « **Reply #179 on:** May 06, 2018, 07:45 AM »

Any rival for Umidigi S2 PRO?

I will eventually have to ditch my Xiaomi Redmi Pro 3. After recommendations here I bought it, which proved to be good, but it has a major lack, the lack of NFC, so I cannot use it to make payments.
-kalos (May 05, 2018, 02:55 PM)

I thought you wanted NFC?

Here's the product page for the Umidigi S2 Pro, no mention of NFC.

Shades · « **Reply #180 on:** May 06, 2018, 11:40 AM »

Done something strange. I was pointed to the Kyocera Brigadier, which is an older model phone (the one I have runs Android 5.1.1), for a total of 80 USD (bying, shipping, flashing to make it work in PY and extra cover. It feels solid, rather heavy in your hand (which I find a plus), lasts 3 days on a battery charge (longer when disabling location, wifi etc.).

Although an older phone it does support NFC and wireless charging. I'm happy to use it as replacement for my current daily driver, a Huawei P8 Lite. The camera is not great on both phones, but that is not a consideration in my mind or use cases.

Anyway, dismissing older model phones immediately would be unwise, especially for the price. There is also it's newer brother, the Kyocera Torque G03, which improves significantly on all hardware specs of the Brigadier model, Android version etc....except for NFC. which is dropped. The website I link to in this post allows you to have specs of several phones next to each other for easier comparison. Also allows to compare prices with several online webstores too. That should make Kalos life (and ours

) easier.

tomos · « **Reply #181 on:** May 06, 2018, 04:31 PM »

A little over your budget but maybe the Motorola G6 or G6+ (not the G6 Play unless it floats your boat)?

Dedicated uSD slot, available in single or dual SIM config, dual back cameras, reasonably vanilla Android experience (the Moto Actions/Display are actually useful compared to the usual "extras" you get), etc, etc.

Relatively new release, this month I think, so you might need to search for reviews a bit.
-4wd (May 03, 2018, 05:25 AM)

somehow I had missed this post 4wd, only seen it today -- complete with .de links, thanks

Did find a goodish review of the G6 (German language) via one of the amazon.de reviews. It's very positive.
https://www.tariftip...Moto-G6-im-Test.html

4wd · « **Reply #182 on:** May 06, 2018, 08:20 PM »

Did find a goodish review of the G6 (German language) via one of the amazon.de reviews. It's very positive.
https://www.tariftip...Moto-G6-im-Test.html
-tomos (May 06, 2018, 04:31 PM)

Just one thing to be aware of is that Motorola normally only say there will one Android update they'll make available for a model, so for the G6 this means up to Android 9, (or whatever they call it).

After that you'll have to go alternative firmware if you want any later features, (I've no doubt there'll be a Lineage port some time soon for it), but at least Motorola let you unlock the bootloader to facilitate this, (even if they do say your warranty is now void).

If you want to keep more up-to-date then your choices are more than likely to be something in the Android One program or something with a well established alternative ROM community, (check xda forums).

PS. Before anyone jumps in and says "xyz company also updates to every new version", yes I know there are some that do, I'm just too lazy to go look for them

4wd · « **Reply #183 on:** June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM »

ZTE Nubia Z17 Lite - Lite version of the Z17s, very decent hardware specs for $200 - currently pre-order though. Not too bad if you can live with only 64GB of storage.

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company

The other side of the coin.

EDIT: DOH! Just noticed you mentioned it back here

cranioscopical · « **Reply #184 on:** June 05, 2018, 08:31 AM »

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company
-4wd (June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM)

That's a bonus?

MilesAhead · « **Reply #185 on:** June 05, 2018, 01:45 PM »

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company
-4wd (June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM)
That's a bonus?
-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 08:31 AM)

Learn something every day. I thought POTUS was some soggy herbs stuck on a sore spot for pain relief.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #186 on:** June 05, 2018, 04:38 PM »

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company
-4wd (June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM)
That's a bonus?
-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 08:31 AM)

Learn something every day. I thought POTUS was some soggy herbs stuck on a sore spot for pain relief.
-MilesAhead (June 05, 2018, 01:45 PM)

Thanak goodness you were able to weed out the confusion!

MilesAhead · « **Reply #187 on:** June 06, 2018, 08:27 AM »

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company
-4wd (June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM)
That's a bonus?
-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 08:31 AM)

Learn something every day. I thought POTUS was some soggy herbs stuck on a sore spot for pain relief.
-MilesAhead (June 05, 2018, 01:45 PM)

Thanak goodness you were able to weed out the confusion!

-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 04:38 PM)

Speaking of weed, I watched Up in Smoke again last week. It is still funny after all these years.

wraith808 · « **Reply #188 on:** June 06, 2018, 06:23 PM »

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company
-4wd (June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM)
That's a bonus?
-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 08:31 AM)

Learn something every day. I thought POTUS was some soggy herbs stuck on a sore spot for pain relief.
-MilesAhead (June 05, 2018, 01:45 PM)

Thanak goodness you were able to weed out the confusion!

-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 04:38 PM)

Speaking of weed, I watched Up in Smoke again last week. It is still funny after all these years.

-MilesAhead (June 06, 2018, 08:27 AM)

Why are you watching a current history of the US?

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #189 on:** June 07, 2018, 10:06 AM »

Okay... Now ^That's^ funny

MilesAhead · « **Reply #190 on:** June 07, 2018, 10:25 AM »

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company
-4wd (June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM)
That's a bonus?
-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 08:31 AM)

Learn something every day. I thought POTUS was some soggy herbs stuck on a sore spot for pain relief.
-MilesAhead (June 05, 2018, 01:45 PM)

Thanak goodness you were able to weed out the confusion!

-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 04:38 PM)

Speaking of weed, I watched Up in Smoke again last week. It is still funny after all these years.

-MilesAhead (June 06, 2018, 08:27 AM)

Why are you watching a current history of the US?

-wraith808 (June 06, 2018, 06:23 PM)

Ok, it may be only a current history but it is the only history we've got. Or is that war? I get confused.

wraith808 · « **Reply #191 on:** June 07, 2018, 01:20 PM »

As a bonus POTUS has put his name behind the company
-4wd (June 05, 2018, 06:02 AM)
That's a bonus?
-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 08:31 AM)

Learn something every day. I thought POTUS was some soggy herbs stuck on a sore spot for pain relief.
-MilesAhead (June 05, 2018, 01:45 PM)

Thanak goodness you were able to weed out the confusion!

-cranioscopical (June 05, 2018, 04:38 PM)

Speaking of weed, I watched Up in Smoke again last week. It is still funny after all these years.

-MilesAhead (June 06, 2018, 08:27 AM)

Why are you watching a current history of the US?

-wraith808 (June 06, 2018, 06:23 PM)

Ok, it may be only a current history but it is the only history we've got. Or is that war? I get confused.
-MilesAhead (June 07, 2018, 10:25 AM)

War. Huh. Yeah. What is it good for! Absolutely nothing!

kalos · « **Reply #192 on:** June 08, 2018, 07:07 AM »

Very good article:

https://www.review-h...mazing-battery-life/

4wd · « **Reply #193 on:** June 08, 2018, 09:31 PM »

Very good article:

https://www.review-h...mazing-battery-life/
-kalos (June 08, 2018, 07:07 AM)

Not really, all they've done is put a bigger battery in, nothing really contributing towards the better solution of power efficiency.

FWIW, of the 2017/18 phones listed:
11/14 use MTK SoC - Generally limited firmware upgrade.
03/14 use Snapdragon SoC of which only one uses the more power efficient 625, the other two use the 4xx series.
02/14 have NFC
10/14 have no TDD-LTE connectivity
02/14 only have 2G on 2nd SIM if the 1st is in use with 4G, (pretty useless where 2G is being shut down)
12/14 give no info on whether the Dual SIM is 4G/3G or 4G/2G

Most have limited connectivity regarding 3G/4G bands.

tomos · « **Reply #194 on:** June 24, 2018, 06:02 AM »

Finally got the Moto g6.
Set it up with my google account (android takes a bit of getting used to after a few years with windows phone).
Camera much better than my Nokia 730, but cant cope with macro / very close-up shots - something the Nokia did beautifully. Also camera not quickly accessible, something I really should have considered in advance. (Good camera is main reason I chose the Moto.) Haven't spent much time with it yet, and most of that just setting it up.

rgdot · « **Reply #195 on:** June 24, 2018, 06:58 AM »

Moto G series are not known for good cameras. Where did you read that the G series are good camera? Would be very cool if G6 has changed that but I have owned a few (G5 and older) and camera is probably the biggest weakness, if anything.

tomos · « **Reply #196 on:** June 24, 2018, 12:52 PM »

Moto G series are not known for good cameras. Where did you read that the G series are good camera? Would be very cool if G6 has changed that but I have owned a few (G5 and older) and camera is probably the biggest weakness, if anything.
-rgdot (June 24, 2018, 06:58 AM)

dont know anything about the series, but the G6 camera seems to get good reviews,
e.g. https://www.youtube..../watch?v=yQ6pQdbQ80Y
I actually based my decision on a German language review:
https://www.tariftip...Moto-G6-im-Test.html

One has to remember that 'good' here will always be relative i.e. good for the price...

4wd · « **Reply #197 on:** June 24, 2018, 10:22 PM »

... I have owned a few (G5 and older) and camera is probably the biggest weakness, if anything.
-rgdot (June 24, 2018, 06:58 AM)

There are mods, (Chromatix), you can apply to the G5+ to improve the camera, it uses the same hardware as the S7 but the Motorola software applies aggressive sharpening, the mod tones that down a bit.

They require an unlocked bootloader (and root access would make things easier) though. NOTE: Unlocking the bootloader will factory reset the phone.

You can also sideload a build of the Google Camera that uses HDR+ for which you need to enable Camera2 API, (a change in build.prop).

See here for more info.

4wd · « **Reply #198 on:** June 25, 2018, 07:21 AM »

Also camera not quickly accessible, something I really should have considered in advance.
-tomos (June 24, 2018, 06:02 AM)

A double twist of the wrist opens the camera app, even if the phone is locked, very quick, the app is running by the time I hold it up for a photo.
If it doesn't, open the Moto app, goto Moto Actions and enable Twist for Quick Capture.

Doing it while the camera is running will also swap between the front/rear camera.

You can also enable Double karate chop for torch if you want.

There's a few other things in there that are useful as well as the settings for Moto Display.

If the Moto app isn't installed it's available from the Play Store.

rgdot · « **Reply #199 on:** June 25, 2018, 07:59 AM »

Of course price is number 1 reason I have owned Motorala, especially since I am not a heavy cell user at all, so yes I agree with the 'relative' statement.
Among the issues that I have had with G series is the G3's front facing camera stopped one day, the phone wasn't dropped and there were no system or app updates either. It just stopped as if the phone doesn't have a front camera, no apps that use the camera even showed the option to switch to front camera. Resets, cache and data emptying etc all had no effect, remember googling it and other had experienced it too. I guess it was a hardware issue somehow, pretty bizarre as far as these things go.